Syracuse football: do the Orange have a reliable #2 QB?

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CONWAY, SOUTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 19: Amari Odom #2 of the Kennesaw State Owls looks to pass the ball during the first half of the 2025 Myrtle Beach Bowl against the Western Michigan Broncos at Brooks Stadium on December 19, 2025 in Conway, South Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images) | Getty Images

When Steve Angeli went out of the Clemson game last September, backup Rickie Collins came in and threw a touchdown pass to Justus Ross-Simmons on his first snap.


In that moment, many Orange fans thought maybe Collins would be good enough to run the team in Angeli’s absence and get the 3 wins Syracuse needed to make a bowl game. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case and a month later, Collins was benched and the season went from promising to disaster.

As Syracuse heads into the 2026 camp, there are still questions about the Orange, but one area that appears to have been significantly upgraded is the quarterback room. Angeli appears on track to be back in the starting role, but Fran Brown brought in three transfer quarterbacks with starting experience: Amari Odom, Malachi Nelson and Danny Lauter.

The Athletic ranked the P4 backup QB’s and they had Odom ranked 9th overall. Here’s what went along with the ranking:

Steve Angeli has recovered from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in Week 4 last year, but the Orange should be in decent shape if they need to go to the bullpen. Odom went 7-2 as a starter and led Kennesaw State to a Conference USA championship while completing 64.9 percent of his passes for 2,594 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions and rushing for 347 yards and seven scores. Syracuse also signed former five-star Malachi Nelson, who has made stops at USC, Boise State and UTEP.

Of course we know nothing is guaranteed, but should Syracuse need to use it’s 2nd quarterback (and recent history suggests it will at some point), then it appears Fran Brown and Jeff Nixon can have more faith in Odom or Nelson to be able to keep the season from going off the rails.

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Do you think that the backup quarterbacks give you enough reason to hope Syracuse could survive with them taking snaps?

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